Daily Archives: June 15, 2011

GREECE is thought to be on the verge of an economic collapse. Thousands of residents took to the streets today to protest the possible cuts, in what is being called a “one day strike”. The problem is huge and if it gets out of control, many believe it could cause bigger issues for the U.S. than our recent recession.

To sum it up, in an effort to bail out Greece, the European Union gave them $158 billion dollars, by holding Greek bonds. In return, Greece is paying them an incredibly high yield of 18% (interest rate) and also promised to cut spending. As they now try to cut costs the residents are angry, which is what caused the violent protests.

Greece is now contemplating not paying back the European Union, because they still need to raise $100 million dollars. This is where the problem lies, many now fear if they do not pay it back, then other countries including Ireland, Portugal and Spain may follow suit. This would mean a huge loss for the banks and likely cause a domino effect, hitting the U.S. hard. If the European markets crash, we can be certain it will mean significant losses globally.

As many Americans have not yet bailed out of the recent crisis, this is sure to hurt the recovery or even create worldwide chaos. Today’s news, already affected the stock market so imagine what a full collapse in Greece would do. Let’s hope they figure something out quickly, or we may all have to downsize even more.

But of course, just like the news media always hypes these stories, if you dig deeper there are indications this is all being over played. Fear is always the way to scare the us right? I was already sucked in, so it works.

U.S. Congresswoman, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, was excited to finally go home today. She was released from a Houston Rehabilitation Facility, after spending five months recuperating, due to the tragic shooting back in January. While she has yet to fully recover from her gunshot wound to the head, she smiled as she made her way home.

Giffords will require daily trips to the hospital and a 24-hour nurse until she fully recovers, but it was great to hear she is headed in the right direction. She has come a long way since the shooting and doctors were amazed she was able to pull through so quickly.

Dr. Gerard Francisco, the hospital’s chief medical officer released a statement today saying, “Congresswoman Giffords has shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at TIRR five months ago. “We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment.
We have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery.”

The senseless shooting is still a painful memory for many and with all the lives lost, it will never be forgotten.